Pennsylvania Mesothelioma Lawyer

Over the past three decades, Weitz & Luxenberg has grown to over 100 attorneys, and we have offices across the country, including near Philadelphia. Every year, we handle approximately 500 mesothelioma and asbestos-exposure cases.

W&L has now grown into one of the largest personal injury and mass tort law firms in the Philadelphia and New York areas. Our outlook is both local and national, so our clients in Pennsylvania get the best possible representation.

Finding an Experienced Lawyer

We have a strong local presence in Pennsylvania. Our attorneys live and work in Pennsylvania. The local legal community knows us. W&L attorneys are in court frequently, and we have relationships with the judges and standing mediator. When we are dealing with Pennsylvania jurors, we relate to them as part of our own community.

Our mesothelioma lawyers in Pennsylvania are fully prepared to represent people who have been diagnosed with mesothelioma throughout the state and in neighboring regions.

With offices near Philadelphia, we know the region very well. Our specialized attorneys have in-depth knowledge of and experience with Pennsylvania asbestos regulations.

Local Expertise; Nationwide Asbestos-Exposure Experience

Diagnosed with mesothelioma? Contact us now for a free consultation and more information about your legal options.

We also have a strong presence on the national asbestos litigation scene. W&L is the leading plaintiffs’ asbestos firm in New York City — the most-active jurisdiction in the world for asbestos exposure.

The massive verdicts we get for our clients in NYC give us leverage when we are negotiating with the same offending companies in Pennsylvania. Our reputation and size lets us dominate in many legal settings.

Verdicts & Settlements

Attorneys from Weitz & Luxenberg have been helping clients locally for more than 20 years. We are proud to say that we have successfully gotten financial compensation for thousands of victims.

Sue Crawford describes the help W&L gave her dad, a former steel mill worker.

Asbestos-Exposure Related Deaths in Pennsylvania

Between 1999 and 2013, more than 14,200 people in Pennsylvania died from asbestos-related diseases. Of these, 2,600 deaths were due to mesothelioma.(1)

Nearly 1,300 people died from a disease called asbestosis. In addition, more than 10,400 died from asbestos lung cancer.

As you might suspect, the greatest number of deaths from these diseases occurred in the more industrialized regions of the state, including:

Philadelphia.

Pittsburgh.

Harrisburg.

Bellefonte.

Counties in Pennsylvania with the greatest number of asbestos-related deaths include:

Allegheny County — 1,616.

Philadelphia County — 1,345.

Montgomery County — 1,272.

Delaware County — 1,078.

Pennsylvania Regulations

In Pennsylvania, the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) regulates how businesses collect, remove, transport, and dispose of asbestos-containing materials. The DEP does not regulate how owners of private residences remove and dispose of them. The exception to this rule is apartment buildings with five or more units.(2)

Townships or boroughs in Pennsylvania may also operate under their own local regulations. Residents and businesses should contact their local township or borough for more information.

In addition, the Department of Labor and Industry is responsible for enforcing Pennsylvania’s Asbestos Occupations Accreditation and Certification Act of 1990. This law requires at least a five-day notification of any asbestos project and certification for:

Contractors.

Inspectors.

Management planners.

Project designers.

Supervisors.

Workers.

Asbestos in Pennsylvania

Before the formation of the EPA, builders may have used building products and insulation materials that contained asbestos in homes. Most of these kinds of products made today do not contain asbestos.(3)

Common asbestos-containing products may include:

Insulation around steam pipes, furnaces, and air ducts.

Vinyl floor covering and adhesives.

Roof shingles and siding.

Patching and joint compounds.

Door gaskets in furnaces.

Textured paints.

Soundproofing or decorative material sprayed on walls and ceilings.

If you have an older home, you may have some of these products in your home. However, if those products are in good condition, you are advised to leave them alone.

Problems arise when these items are damaged or disturbed. Airborne asbestos fibers that you breathe in are hazardous and can lead to some very serious diseases.

Certain parts of your car may also contain these fibers. Working on cars, and replacing certain parts, may expose you to asbestos. These automobile parts include:

Brake pads and linings.

Clutch facings.

Gaskets.

Well-Known Contamination Sites

The following sites in Pennsylvania are well-known for using, processing, or exposing people to asbestos. Many are located in and around the Philadelphia area. Locations include shipyards and industrial sites such as chemical companies and manufacturing sites, power stations, and refineries.

Power Stations

Willow Station, Philadelphia.

Schuylkill Station, Philadelphia.

Cromby Station, Philadelphia.

Delaware Station, Philadelphia.

28th & Christian, Philadelphia.

Edison Steam Plant, Philadelphia.

Fuel Oil Facility, Philadelphia.

Eddystone Station, Eddystone.

Peach Bottom Nuclear Generating Station.

Limerick Nuclear Generating Station.

Susquehanna Nuclear Power Plant.

Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station, Londonderry Township.

Refineries

Atlantic Richfield (ARCO), Philadelphia.

Gulf Refinery, Philadelphia.

Sun Oil Co., Marcus Hook.

BP Oil Refinery, Trainer.

Sunoco, Marcus Hook.

Getty Oil, Philadelphia.

Manufacturing Sites

Budd Company, Philadelphia.

Pennsylvania Sugar, Philadelphia.

Scott Paper Co., Chester.

General Electric.

Westinghouse Electric.

Bethlehem Steel.

Fairless Steel, Fairless Hills.

Alan Wood Steel.

Nicholson, Philadelphia.

U.S. Steel, Pittsburgh and Fairless Hills.

Allegheny Ludlum, Bagdad and Leechburg.

Rohm and Hass, Bristol and Bridesburg.

Westinghouse, Lester.

American Can, Chambersburg.

Shipyards

Philadelphia Naval Shipyard (PNSY), Philadelphia.

Chemical Companies

Allied Chemical, Philadelphia.

Buildings

Public Ledger Building, Philadelphia.

U.S. Customs Building, Philadelphia.

Wanamaker Building, Marcus Hook.

Abington High School, Abington.

Hospitals

Philadelphia State Hospital at Byberry.

Philadelphia General Hospital, Philadelphia.

Temple University Hospital, Philadelphia.

University of Pennsylvania Hospital, Philadelphia.

Universities/Colleges

University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.

Temple University, Philadelphia.

Drexel University, Philadelphia.

Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia.

Girard College, Philadelphia.

Meet the Local W&L Team

The attorneys who work out of our Cherry Hill, New Jersey office are very knowledgeable about mesothelioma and asbestos exposure cases in Pennsylvania.

Should you decide to contact our PA office, you may have the opportunity to work with one of these experienced attorneys:

Jerry Kristal had already spent 10 years fighting for families injured by asbestos when he joined Weitz & Luxenberg in 1997. Today, he is Managing Attorney of the firm’s New Jersey office. Driven since his…

Alex Eiden has been an associate attorney in the Mesothelioma and Asbestos Practice Group litigation unit in the firm’s Cherry Hill office in New Jersey, since 2012. He came to us from a law office in…

An adroit litigator and negotiator, Mary Grabish Gaffney concentrates on representing clients suffering asbestos-related illnesses as well as those alleging other forms of personal-injury harm. Over the course of her career, she has served as…